Financial literacy or investment experience: which is more influential in cryptocurrency investment?

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate how financial literacy and investment experience impact cryptocurrency investment behavior and explore which factor is more influential in cryptocurrency investment.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of US individual investors from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study Investor Survey, a three-step hierarchical logistic regression was conducted following a model-comparison approach. In addition, a mediation analysis was conducted using the Karlson−Holm−Breen (KHB) method to further explore the mediating effect of investment experience between financial literacy and cryptocurrency investment.FindingsThis study found that while both financial literacy and investment experience were positively associated with investing in cryptocurrencies, investment experience was more influential in cryptocurrency investment. The findings also demonstrated that investment experience, especially risky asset holding, had a significant mediating effect between subjective financial knowledge and cryptocurrency investment behavior.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study offer insight to researchers by providing a deeper understanding of the determinants of cryptocurrency investment in the United States. This study also provides detailed implications for financial institutions, financial professionals and policymakers to guide rational cryptocurrency investment behavior.Originality/valueThis study is one of the initial attempts to explore the determinant factors in cryptocurrency investment, an area that has rarely been studied in the literature.